Policy paper

Interministerial Standing Committee Communiqué: 29 June 2022

Updated 13 November 2023

The Interministerial Standing Committee met for the second time on 29 June 2022 via video conference. The meeting was chaired by the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery in the Scottish Government, John Swinney MSP.

The other attending Ministers were:

From the Scottish Government: Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans – Keith Brown MSP.

From the UK Government: Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations – Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury – Rt Hon Simon Clarke MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Northern Ireland Office) – Lord Caine, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Scotland Office) – Iain Stewart MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Wales Office) – David Davies MP.

From the Welsh Government: First Minister – Rt Hon Mark Drakeford MS, Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution – Mick Antoniw MS, Minister for Finance and Local Government – Rebecca Evans MS, Minister for Social Justice – Jane Hutt MS.

From the Northern Ireland Executive: Minister of Finance – Conor Murphy MLA, Minister for the Economy – Gordon Lyons MLA.

The Committee discussed the current UK Parliament legislative programme and followed up and progressed the discussion on approaches to UK legislation and ways of working, highlighting the importance of early engagement.

It also discussed the rise in the cost of living, including the measures recently announced by the UK Government and common challenges faced across the UK Government and Devolved Governments.

Ministers noted the progress on establishing Interministerial Groups (IMGs) to date, and the proposed forward look of IMSC meetings. The next IMSC is to be held in September and will be chaired by the Welsh Government, in line with rotating chair arrangements.